End user controlled temporary phone service device swapping system and method

ABSTRACT

User controlled temporary mobile phone service device swapping systems and methods including particular implementations and embodiments comprising a plurality of mobile phone user control accounts at least a first telephone number registered with each of the plurality of mobile phone user control accounts, and at least two different mobile phone devices registered with each of the plurality of mobile phone user control accounts, and a mobile phone user interface configured to receive input from the mobile phone user to indicate which of the at least two different mobile phone devices associated with the mobile phone user control account is to be associated and to transmit data indicating the association to a phone number registry.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Aspects of this document relate generally to phone end user interfacesand phone systems and techniques for pushing or swapping phone serviceto a different physical end-user phone.

2. Background Art

Telephone communication has become a required feature in the lives ofpeople in industrialized countries. However, when users go to purchase aphone, they are generally of the mindset that they are picking “thephone” needed for their intended use and that they are stuck with thatphone and its features until they purchase a new phone to replace theprevious phone. As a result, purchasers generally over-purchase theirphone so that it does everything the user can conceive they will everneed the phone to do for the next 2-4 years until a replacement phone ispurchased.

Particularly with purchasing mobile phones, phone purchasers, if theycan afford it, generally purchase a smart phone with processorcapability that is further expanded through the use of downloadableapplications to expand the functionality of the device. Where phonepurchasers run into problems, however, is that their ultimate phone isgenerally not intended for use during all activities. Due to the cost ofa smart phone, many users do not want to use their expensive smart phoneduring many activities due to the risk of physical damage, water damage,loss or theft. Some activities do not make carrying a relatively largesmart phone convenient.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a user controlled temporarymobile phone service device swapping system comprising a plurality ofcellular phone user control accounts on a user controlled mobile phoneservice device swapping system accessible through an Internet connectionto a cellular phone user interface accessible through each of aplurality of processors each under control of a different cellular phoneuser, each different cellular phone user associated with a differentcellular phone user control account, at least a first telephone numberregistered with each of the plurality of cellular phone user controlaccounts, each cellular phone user control account associated with adifferent first telephone number than each other cellular phone usercontrol account, and at least two different mobile phone devicesregistered with each of the plurality of cellular phone user controlaccounts, each of the at least two different mobile phone devicescomprising a mobile phone component that provisions mobile phonecommunication through a mobile phone telecommunication network and aunique identifier different from unique identifiers associated with eachof the at least two different mobile phone devices registered with eachof the other cellular phone user control accounts of the plurality ofcellular phone user control accounts; wherein the cellular phone userinterface is configured to receive input from the cellular phone userassociated with the cellular phone user control account to indicatewhich of the at least two different mobile phone devices associated withthe cellular phone user control account is to be associated with thefirst telephone number associated with the user control account and totransmit data indicating the association to a phone number registry.

Particular embodiments and implementations of the disclosure may includeone or more of the following. The system may further comprise a secondtelephone number registered with at least one of the cellular phone usercontrol accounts, wherein the interface is configured to receive inputfrom the cellular phone user associated with the user control account toindicate which of the at least two different mobile phone devicesassociated with the cellular phone user control account is to beassociated with the second telephone number and to transmit dataindicating the new association to a phone number registry. At least oneof the two different cellular phone devices registered with at least oneof the plurality of cellular phone user control accounts may notassociated with any telephone number. Each of the at least two differentmobile phone devices may comprise one of a cellular telephone, a voiceover IP mobile phone device, a SIM chip, a tracking device, a watchphone, a personal computing device, a video phone device, a smart phoneand a cellular chip. The cellular phone user interface may be configuredto receive the input and transmit the data even when the indicatedmobile phone device is located remote from the cellular phone user. Atleast one of the at least two different mobile phone devices maycomprise a tracking device and the interface is configured to illustratea location on a map displayed on a computer display an approximatelocation of the tracking device. The interface may be further configuredto automatically locate and record a location of the tracking device ona scheduled basis.

According to another aspect, a method of swapping user controlledtemporary mobile phone service from a first user device to a second userdevice may comprise associating at least a first telephone number andits attendant phone service, and at least two mobile phone devices witheach of a plurality of cellular phone user control accounts associatedwith a user controlled temporary mobile phone service swapping system,receiving input from a first cellular phone user associated with a firstcellular phone user control account among the plurality of cellularphone user control accounts, the input indicating which of the at leasttwo different mobile phone devices associated with the cellular phoneuser control account is to be associated with a first telephone numberassociated with the user control account, dissociating the firsttelephone number and at least a portion of its attendant phone servicefrom its association with a second of the at least two different mobilephone devices if the first telephone number is associated with thesecond mobile phone device prior to receiving the input from the firstmobile phone user, and transmitting data to a phone number registryindicating to indicate that the first telephone number and at least aportion of its attendant phone service is associated with the firstmobile phone device.

Particular implementations and embodiments of the disclosure maycomprise one or more of the following. Receiving input from the firstcellular phone user may comprise receiving the input through acommunication medium other than the mobile phone device indicated forassociation with the first telephone number. Receiving input from thefirst cellular phone user further may comprise receiving the input whenthe mobile phone device indicated for association with the firsttelephone number is remote from the first cellular phone user.Identifying a location of each of the at least two different mobilephone devices may be accomplished by associating the first telephonenumber with a first of the at least two different mobile phone devices,identifying the location of the first mobile phone device and recordingthe location, then associating the first telephone number with thesecond of the at least two different mobile phone devices, identifyingthe location of the second mobile phone device and recording thelocation. Identifying the location may comprise automaticallyidentifying the location on a scheduled basis and storing the recordedlocations in memory for later display. The system may immediately notifythe first cellular phone user if the identified location of either thefirst or the second mobile phone device was identified as being outsidea predetermined geographic boundary for either the first or the secondmobile phone device. Associating at least a second telephone number withthe first cellular phone user account. Associating at least a thirdmobile phone device with the first cellular phone user account.Receiving input through the second mobile phone device while the phonenumber is associated with the first mobile phone device, the inputcausing the user controlled temporary mobile phone service swappingsystem to associate the second cellular phone device with the phonenumber and at least a portion of its attendant phone service.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a user controlledtemporary mobile phone service device swapping system may comprise aplurality of mobile phone user control accounts on a user controlledmobile phone service device swapping system accessible through anInternet connection to an online phone user interface, a different atleast a first telephone number registered with each of the plurality ofmobile phone user control accounts, and at least two different mobilephone devices registered with each of the plurality of mobile phone usercontrol accounts, each of the at least two different mobile phonedevices comprising a mobile phone component that provisions mobile phonecommunication through a mobile phone telecommunication network, and aunique identifier different from unique identifiers associated with eachof the at least two different mobile phone devices registered with eachof the other mobile phone user control accounts, wherein the usercontrolled mobile phone service device swapping system is configured toreceive input from a first mobile phone user associated with a firstmobile phone user control account of the plurality of mobile phone usercontrol accounts to indicate that a first mobile phone device of the atleast two different mobile phone devices is to be associated with thefirst telephone number and to transmit data indicating the associationto a phone number registry.

Particular implementations and embodiments of the disclosure maycomprise one or more of the following. A second telephone number may beregistered with the first mobile phone user control account, wherein theuser controlled mobile phone service device swapping system isconfigured to receive input through the first mobile phone user controlaccount to indicate which of the at least two different mobile phonedevices associated with the first phone user control account is to beassociated with the second telephone number, and to transmit dataindicating the new association to a phone number registry. At least oneof the two different mobile phone devices may be with at least one ofthe plurality of mobile phone user control accounts is not associatedwith any telephone number. Each of the at least two mobile phone devicesmay comprise one of a cellular telephone, a voice over IP mobile phonedevice, a SIM chip, a tracking device, a watch phone, a personalcomputing device, a video phone device, a smart phone and a cellularchip. The user controlled mobile phone service device swapping systemmay be configured to receive the input and transmit the data even whenthe indicated mobile phone device is located remote from the mobilephone user. At least one of the at least two mobile phone devices maycomprise a tracking device and the interface is configured to illustratea location on a map displayed on a computer display an approximatelocation of the tracking device. The interface may further be configuredto automatically locate and record a location of the tracking device ona scheduled basis.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a user controlledtemporary communication service device swapping system may comprise aplurality of communications device user control accounts on a usercontrolled communication service device swapping system accessiblethrough an Internet connection to an online communications userinterface, a different at least a first communications device numberregistered with each of the plurality of communications user controlaccounts, and at least two different communications devices registeredwith each of the plurality of communications user control accounts, eachof the at least two different communications devices comprising acommunications component that provisions communication through acommunications network, and a unique identifier different from uniqueidentifiers associated with each of the at least two differentcommunications devices registered with each of the other communicationsuser control accounts, wherein the user controlled communicationsservice device swapping system is configured to receive input from afirst communications user associated with a first communications usercontrol account of the plurality of communications user control accountsto indicate that a first communications device of the at least twodifferent communications devices is to be associated with the firstcommunications device number and to transmit data indicating theassociation to a communication number registry.

Particular implementations and embodiments of the disclosure maycomprise one or more of the following. A second communication number maybe registered with the first communications user control account,wherein the user controlled communications service device swappingsystem is configured to receive input through the first communicationsuser control account to indicate which of the at least two differentcommunications devices associated with the first communications usercontrol account is to be associated with the second communicationsdevice number, and to transmit data indicating the new association to acommunication number registry. Each of the at least two communicationsdevices may comprise one of a cellular telephone, a voice over IP mobilephone device, a SIM chip, a tracking device, a watch phone, a personalcomputing device, a video phone device, a smart phone and a cellularchip. The user controlled communications service device swapping systemmay be configured to receive the input and transmit the data even whenthe indicated communications device is located remote from thecommunications device user.

Aspects and applications of the disclosure presented here are describedbelow in the drawings and detailed description. Unless specificallynoted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specificationand the claims be given their plain, ordinary, and accustomed meaning tothose of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. The inventors are fullyaware that they can be their own lexicographers if desired. Theinventors expressly elect, as their own lexicographers, to use only theplain and ordinary meaning of terms in the specification and claimsunless they clearly state otherwise and then further, expressly setforth the “special” definition of that term and explain how it differsfrom the plain and ordinary meaning Absent such clear statements ofintent to apply a “special” definition, it is the inventors' intent anddesire that the simple, plain and ordinary meaning to the terms beapplied to the interpretation of the specification and claims.

The inventors are also aware of the normal precepts of English grammar.Thus, if a noun, term, or phrase is intended to be furthercharacterized, specified, or narrowed in some way, then such noun, term,or phrase will expressly include additional adjectives, descriptiveterms, or other modifiers in accordance with the normal precepts ofEnglish grammar. Absent the use of such adjectives, descriptive terms,or modifiers, it is the intent that such nouns, terms, or phrases begiven their plain, and ordinary English meaning to those skilled in theapplicable arts as set forth above.

Further, the inventors are fully informed of the standards andapplication of the special provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6. Thus, theuse of the words “function,” “means” or “step” in the Description,Drawings, or Claims is not intended to somehow indicate a desire toinvoke the special provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6, to define theinvention. To the contrary, if the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6 aresought to be invoked to define the claimed disclosure, the claims willspecifically and expressly state the exact phrases “means for” or “stepfor, and will also recite the word “function” (i.e., will state “meansfor performing the function of [insert function]”), without alsoreciting in such phrases any structure, material or act in support ofthe function. Thus, even when the claims recite a “means for performingthe function of . . . ” or “step for performing the function of . . . ,”if the claims also recite any structure, material or acts in support ofthat means or step, or that perform the recited function, then it is theclear intention of the inventors not to invoke the provisions of 35U.S.C. §112, ¶ 6. Moreover, even if the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6 are invoked to define the claimed disclosure, it is intended that thedisclosure not be limited only to the specific structure, material oracts that are described in the preferred embodiments, but in addition,include any and all structures, materials or acts that perform theclaimed function as described in alternative embodiments or forms of theinvention, or that are well known present or later-developed, equivalentstructures, material or acts for performing the claimed function.

The foregoing and other aspects, features, and advantages will beapparent to those artisans of ordinary skill in the art from theDESCRIPTION and DRAWINGS, and from the CLAIMS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations will hereinafter be described in conjunction with theappended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an account owner's interface with a phonenumber registry;

FIG. 2 is a representation of an phone service carrier's routing of acall to a particular phone device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a suitable operatingenvironment for aspects of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing environment.

DESCRIPTION

This disclosure, its aspects and implementations, are not limited to thespecific phone types, communications technologies, networks or othersystem component examples, or methods disclosed herein. Many additionalcomponents and assembly procedures known in the art consistent withmultiple phone devices associated with a single phone number through anaccount owner-controlled account interface are contemplated for use withparticular implementations from this disclosure. Accordingly, forexample, although particular implementations are disclosed, suchimplementations and implementing components may comprise any components,models, versions, quantities, and/or the like as is known in the art forsuch systems and implementing components, consistent with the intendedoperation.

The public switched telephone network, which includes a phone numberregistry service, includes a registry of all phone numbers in the UnitedStates. Other inter-related systems maintain a registry of phone numbersin other countries of the world. Each phone number is assigned,initially, to a phone carrier who maintains a record of which physicallocation, in the case of stationary phones, or which specific mobilephone device is associated with the phone number. For mobile phones,when a call is made from a first physical phone device, the numberrequested is sent to the first phone's carrier which looks up theidentity of the second physical phone device from the phone numberregistry service and routes the call accordingly through, for example, acellular tower near the second physical phone device to make theconnection. Only one physical phone device can be associated with aparticular phone number in the phone number registry. There areservices, such as call forwarding, which will cause a call coming in toa first physical phone device through its phone number to be forwardedto a second physical phone device through a second phone number.However, if the second physical phone device returns a call back to theoriginal caller, it will come from the second phone number and may notbe recognized by the original caller (who called a different first phonenumber). This may complicate communication between two people or causeadditional calls to be missed in managing multiple phone numbers. Itshould be made clear that as referred to herein, “phone number” refersto the conventional telephone number one dials to call someone and notto any product identification number, serial number or other numberprogrammed into or stored in the memory or hardware of the physicalphone device.

As used herein, the term “physical phone device” and the more specificterm “cellular phone device” are intended to refer to the tangiblephones or other communication devices which have a unique identifierassociated with it to allow a phone service carrier to know where thephysical phone device is by tracking that physical phone device's uniqueidentifier and its connection to surrounding communication technology(whether it be wireless or wired technology). In its simplest form, acellular phone device does not even require a speaker or microphone, butonly a cellular chip and an ability to communicate with a cellularnetwork for tracking its location. For a “land line” or conventionalhouse phone or office phone which is hard wired to a phone network, thatunique identifier is established through a switch box located near theaddress of the property. “Phone number” refers to the conventionaltelephone number dialed on a physical phone device to make a connectionwith another party, typically a 10 or 11 digit number in the UnitedStates, and not to any product identification number, serial number orother hardware identification number or SIM identification number.“Unique identification number” or “unique identifier,” as used here,refers to the physical phone device identification number associatedwith the physical phone device hardware. For a cellular phone device,that unique identifier is coded into a subscriber identification module(“SIM”) chip or other memory or hardware of the physical phone device.For a Voice over IP phone device, a unique identifier is coded into thememory or other storage device of the physical phone or other hardware.Alternatively, for any physical phone device, the unique identifiercould be hard-coded into the circuitry of the physical phone device'sconnection to the network. “Phone service” refers to the serviceprovided by the phone service carrier that is routed to the physicalphone device to enable it to make and receive calls through the phonenumber assigned to the physical phone device through the phone numberregistry.

If a cellular phone user desires to use a different cellular phonedevice, a physical change may be made to the cellular phone device tocause the phone number registry service to route calls to the secondphysical phone device. In some cases, particularly in cellular phonedevices, the service provider identifies the physical phone device towhich a call should be routed by the unique identification numberassigned to the SIM chip within the cellular phone device and that SIMchip may be moveable between cellular phone devices to cause callsassociated with the phone number assigned to the unique identifier ofthe SIM chip to also be routed to the new device. One downsideassociated with the requirement to physically move the SIM chip is thatgenerally the phone must be dismantled and the phone battery must beremoved to access the chip, exposing the insides of the phone tocontaminants and increased risk of harm in the process. Another downsideis that both phones must be physically present to move the SIM chip fromone phone to the other.

Another approach to change a phone number from one physical phone deviceto another is typically done at a cellular phone store by a storeemployee with access to the phone number registry service database. Thestore employee is able to associate a second phone and its uniqueidentification number with a phone number that was previously associatedwith a first phone and its unique identification number and at the sametime dissociate the first phone from the phone number. The processagain, however, requires the physical presence of the second phone forthe transfer to work. Another approach used by some service providers issimilar to the store employee process and involves a user calling theirphone service carrier through the second physical phone device to acustomer service number and requesting that the phone service carrierassociate the second physical phone device the user is calling from withthe phone number associated with the user's account. This process, too,requires the physical presence of the second physical phone device withthe account owner to associate it with the account owner's phone numberon the account.

Various embodiments of the present phone system and methods involvesystems, interfaces and methods for securely permitting an phone numberaccount owner to select from a list which temporary physical phonedevice is to be associated with the account owner's phone number. Insome embodiments, the account owner which of the account owner's phonenumbers will be associated with which of the account owner's physicalphone devices and permitting the account owner to swap them at will topush phone service to any of the physical phone devices on the listwhether the physical phone device is in the presence of the accountowner or not. Aspects of this disclosure relate to interfaces,functionality and possibilities for a system for permitting a mobilephone service carrier customer who has an online physical phone deviceswapping account to swap which temporary physical phone device isassociated with the phone number of the customer's mobile phone service.

According to a first aspect, an example of which is illustrated in FIG.1, a much simplified example of an account owner interface 2 isprovided, through a secure Internet web site through a personalcomputing device, smart phone application and/or dial-up phone network,which is associated with an account owner's password protected account.As used herein, an “account owner” is someone who has control access toan account which is associated with one or more phone numbers and one ormore physical phone devices owned or controlled by the account owner,such as through being a phone service carrier customer or by having aphone number of another phone service carrier customer assigned to theiruse. A cellular phone service account owner may associate one or more ofthe account owner's phone numbers N1, N2 with the account and mayassociate one or more cellular phone devices D1, D2, D3, D4 with theaccount by entering the unique identification number(s) of each cellularphone device D1, D2, D3, D4 into the interface, or by some otherconvenient method known in the art, such as by electronically requestingor receiving the unique identification number(s) through directcommunication with each cellular phone device. Initially, each phonenumber N1, N2 is associated with a particular physical cellular deviceD1, D2, D3 or D4 through the phone number registry service. By selectinga different physical cellular device D1, D2, D3, D4 to associate with aparticular one of the one or more phone numbers N1, N2 associated withthe account owner's account, however, the account owner is permitted tochange, at the account owner's option, the physical cellular phonedevice D1, D2, D3, D4 associated with the account owner's phone numberN1, N2 on the phone number registry service. Through the interface, theuser selects which cellular phone device D1, D2, D3, D4 to associatewith a particular phone number N1, N2 and submits that change request tothe interface processor 4. The interface processor may be any networkserver or central server comprising a computer processor and software orhardware configured to process requests and associated with a databaseadapted to store the respective cellular phone device numbers D1, D2,D3, D4 and the respective account owner's phone numbers N1, N2. Those ofordinary skill in the art will readily understand the scope of what isavailable and possible for this interface from the present disclosure.

In the non-limiting example of FIG. 1, the first phone number N1 isassociated with the first cellular phone device D1, and the second phonenumber N2 is associated with the second cellular phone device D2. Thechange request is transmitted to the phone number registry service 8,either directly or through the account owner's phone service carrier 6,and the change is made. All calls coming to that phone number arethereafter automatically routed to the new cellular phone devicesselected for association with the numbers and all calls made from thosecellular phone devices reflect the phone number associated with theparticular cellular phone device in the user's account. If the accountowner changes his or her mind, the account owner can again interact withthe interface 2 and select a different physical phone device D1, D2, D3,D4 to associate with each phone number N1, N2. When calls come in forthe account owner's phone number N1, N2, because the phone device D1,D2, D3, D4 associated with the phone number N1, N2 has been changed inthe phone number register 8, or at least with the account owner's phoneservice carrier 6, the calls can immediately be routed directly to theappropriate phone device D1, D2, D3, D4 through an appropriateCommunications Network 7. It should be understood that the accountowner's access to the account owner's interface 2 may be through one ofthe phone devices D1, D2, D3, D4 associated with the account owner'saccount through a phone dial-up interface or a smart phone app, or evensimply through Internet access through the phone device, or through anyother Internet access device known.

Several advantages are immediately realized through this approach andmethod. First, because particular embodiments of this technology enablesusers to easily swap between cellular devices and to easily pushcellular phone service to any cellular device associated with an accountowner's account interface at will, account owners and other physicalphone device users are no longer limited to thinking of their smartphone as their only phone. Account owners can now purchase or own manydifferent phones and other cellular devices for different activities andpurposes. Second, the cellular phone device selected does not need to bephysically in the possession of the account owner when a different phonenumber is associated with the device through the interface. Thisprovides particular advantage because the account owner can temporarilypush cellular phone service out to a remote cellular phone device for,by non-limiting example, a child or other family member who needs tomake a call and still recover the cellular phone usage at any time.Third, because the cellular phone device does not need to be physicallypresent to make the phone number change or to associate the device withan active service plan, the account owner can temporarily activate anycellular phone device associated with their account at any time andtrack its location on a map, for example. For asset tracking, this isinvaluable, and even more so to help track children and pets when lost,kidnapped or stolen. Cellular phone devices associated with the accountwould not need to be standard cellular phones as they are currentlyconsidered and treated, but would include any device with cellularcommunication or other network communication technology. For assettracking, the system could simply use the cellular network that is soprominent and widespread throughout the world for tracking an asset'slocation using cellular communication tower triangulation techniquesknown in the art. Such tracking capability through cellular towertriangulation or even GPS in some devices is already inherent in manycellular phone devices.

It is anticipated that as a result of the presently describedtechnology, not only will cellular phone users get longer use out oftheir cellular telephone devices by having use for a phone beyond its“new technology” life, but cellular telephone manufacturers will sellmany more cellular phone devices because each user is no longer limitedto a single cellular phone device with their phone service. Additionalphysical phone devices for many more limited purposes will be sold sothat each end user has access to multiple cellular phone devices foreach phone service plan. For example, watch phones, which are currentlyunpopular and relatively unknown among cellular phone users may becomepopular. Cellular devices with two or even three SIM cards are currentlymanufactured by Benfon of Finland and Akai of China and are expected tobecome more popular as users can selectively alternate which SIM card isbeing used for which phone number and to bring in multiple phone numbersat will to the cellular device. Cellular devices for use in assettracking and for younger child use may also become popular. Severalnon-limiting examples are provided below.

In addition to the ability for the account owner to select a particularcellular phone device from a list of particular cellular phone devicesto associate with a particular phone number associated with the accountowner's account through the interface, the account owner may, inparticular embodiments, have the option to administer additionalfeatures and limitations on calls and/or data transmitted to aparticular cellular device depending upon its purpose and functionality.For example, in one particular implementation, the cellular device maynot be able to accept text messages and the user could indicate thattext messaging should continue to be sent to the first device. Inanother particular implementation, the purpose of the cellular phone maybe for running and the user wants to send all calls except a limitednumber of phone numbers to voicemail automatically and only pass throughcalls from family. Alternatively, the user's control may limit whichphone numbers the cellular phone can dial.

Additionally, by having the option to selectively choose which phonenumber a particular cellular phone device is associated with, a phoneuser may change phone numbers for sequential calls made through the samecellular phone device by making a first call, accessing the accountowner's account, finding the particular physical phone device listed inthe account owner's account, selecting a different phone number to beassociated with the particular physical phone device, and submitting thechange to the phone number registry. Once the change is implemented,another call from the same physical phone device through which theprevious call was made using a first phone number will be made using asecond, different phone number.

In another particular implementation, an account owner may select a timeduration during which the phone number is associated with a firstcellular phone device and a second time duration during which the phonenumber is associated with a second cellular phone device, etc. A parentcould limit cellular phone usage of their children this way, or have apre-arranged time during which a child's cellular phone is automaticallyactivated and functional so that the child can call home after school orafter a party to get a ride home. Alternatively, the account owner mayselect a first time duration during which a first phone number isassociated with the first cellular phone device and a second timeduration during which a second phone number is associated with thecellular phone device.

In yet another particular implementation, a cellular phone user mayestablish a system of cellular devices attached to mobile items within apredetermined geographic area boundary beyond which the owner does notwant the mobile items to extend or for which items the owner wants toidentify their respective locations on a periodic basis. For example, anowner of a fleet of cars may want to track the locations of those cars,a retail store may want to track the respective locations of a pluralityof high end merchandise items prior to sale or the locations of itsshopping carts used by customers, or a company may want to track thelocation of particular items or equipment. In any of these cases, eachitem to be tracked may be associated with a cellular tracking device,which may be implemented as a simple cellular phone device without amicrophone or speakers. The account owner, or a third-party service,enters the cellular tracking device unique identification numbers intothe phone service interface. On a scheduled basis, an appropriatelyprogrammed system may automatically cycle through each of the cellulartracking devices associated with a particular account by transferringcellular service associated with the account to that particular cellulartracking device temporarily but long enough to identify the respectivelocations of each cellular tracking device using conventional cellulartracking methods for locating each item. The system may store theirrespective locations for display to a person responsible for monitoringthe items being tracked, or may simply automatically identify if each ofthe items is within the predetermined geographic area where the itemsare expected to be and store the location of the item if it is notwithin the predetermined geographic area. The system may also beprogrammed to identify a different predetermined geographic area foreach item being tracked. In some cases, the “item” may be a child sothat the same type of system could also be used for automaticallytracking children and notifying a parent if there is an anomaly in achild's location at a particular time.

Additionally, for tracking items or for monitoring locations ofchildren, in addition to or as an alternative to automatically cyclingthrough a number of items being tracked to identify their respectivelocations for display, a system may be programmed to permit an accountowner to select a particular cellular device from a list of cellulardevices associated with the account owner's account and select theparticular cellular device from the list for which the account ownerdesires to identify the location. This is particularly useful insituations where a parent wants to identify the location of a child onan instant (“just checking”) or ongoing (“my child is missing and I needto constantly track location data”) basis.

As mentioned previously, a phone swapping account may be associated withone or more phone numbers and one or more phone devices, though in mostcases it will be two or more devices. The account owner can, on its ownwithout any assistance from a customer service representative, choosewhich phone number is associated with which phone device and make thechange through a simple interface regardless of whether the accountowner has immediate physical access to any of the physical phonedevices. Changing the association of a particular phone number with aparticular physical phone device can be done in a number of differentways. In one embodiment, an account owner, through a system interfacesuch as an Internet account connection, a mobile phone application orpressing a predetermined sequence of buttons on a mobile phone device incommunication with a changing system, may simply select a particularmobile phone device previously associated with the account owner'saccount for activation from a plurality of mobile phone devices on alist. In another embodiment, the user may predetermine a particular timeat which the system automatically changes a phone service from a firstmobile phone device associated with the account to a second mobile phonedevice associated with the account. The account owner may also establisha predetermined duration for the change to last and either automaticallychange back to the first mobile phone device or to a third mobile phonedevice. In yet another embodiment, the account owner may predetermine aparticular time at which the system automatically cycles between all ora selected some of the mobile phone devices on the list for selecteddurations on each for the purpose of determining the respectivelocations of the mobile phone devices. In still yet another embodiment,an end user of a first mobile phone device may have a predetermined setof buttons on the mobile phone device, even, by non-limiting example, aphone number and entry code, that the end user can press to capture theservice associated with a phone carrier service account and be able topull the service from whatever device it was previously associated withand associate it with the first mobile phone device.

The following are particular implementations and embodiments of methodsand systems for implementing various aspects of an account ownercontrolled temporary mobile phone service device swapping system,provided as non-limiting examples:

EXAMPLE 1

Rugged, waterproof sports watch phone. If an account owner is goingrunning, swimming, to the beach, out to play baseball or some othersport, the account owner simply logs in to their interface through acomputer access to the Internet, selects the sports watch phone as thecellular device to activate from among a list of many different possiblecellular devices accessible by the account owner, and submits thechange. The account owner can then take the sports watch phone and usethat phone rather than an expensive smart phone. Generally when theaccount owner is participating in sports, the account owner does notneed all of the functionality of a smart phone and would prefer asimpler, more rugged and even water proof phone option. Particularly forwaterproof watch phones, there is not simply a SIM chip that even couldbe swapped out to change an account to the device and so such a deviceis generally assigned its own phone number.

EXAMPLE 2

Asset tracking unit. For some asset tracking uses, full mobile phonefunctionality is not needed, such as voice and data streaming, andlocation data is all that is needed. For such cases, a cellular chip andpower supply is only needed without the speaker, microphone and inputbuttons that generally take up so much space in a conventional mobilephone. Such asset tracking unit may be encased in a simple packagingdepending upon the intended use. If being mounted to a larger structure,for example, it may include a mounting bracket integral to the housing.If intended for use as a clip-on device, a clip may be alternativelyused.

EXAMPLE 3

Press and capture device. For some devices or accounts, it may bedesirable to allow someone in physical possession of a particular phonedevice associated with a phone swapping account to capture phone serviceto the device even when the account owner has not transferred phoneservice to that particular device from remote location. In such cases,an account owner may pre-associate an account, a particular phone number(or any available phone number associated with the account), and abutton sequence (could be a single “emergency” button on the device or asequence, such as a numeric sequence, of buttons) or option on a phoneapplication with a particular device so that when a person in physicalpossession of the mobile phone device presses the button sequence orselects the phone application option then the online access phonenetwork system automatically changes the account settings so that theaccount reflects that that particular phone device is associated withthat particular phone number. Such button sequence or phone applicationoption may comprise the physical phone user to dialing a phone numberand pressing a particular sequence to initiate the change in the accountsettings. In this way, a parent or other account owner can pre-set aphone to be able to pull cellular service to that device on demand whenneeded, but only when needed. Non-limiting examples of use would includea parent delivering an emergency phone to a child that only works whenneeded, or an account owner who wants a particular phone to only workwhen the physical phone holder temporarily activates the service. Thatservice may then be automatically transferred back to where it came fromafter a predetermined time or only when moved back by an account owneror another cellular device pre-set to be able to pull phone service tothat other cellular device.

EXAMPLE 4

Walkie-Talkie device. Similar to Example 3, for some devices oraccounts, it may be desirable to allow two people in physical possessionof two separate particular phone devices associated with a phoneswapping account to each, in turn capture phone services to the deviceby pressing a single button on the device. An account owner mayconfigure a particular account so that two or more particular mobilephone devices associated with the account can each capture the phoneservice associated with a particular phone number. In such cases, thesystem may be programmed to transfer the service back and forth betweenthe two or more separate particular phone devices in a predictablemanner to allow for a simple discussion between the two or more devices.Particular uses may include, for example, a discussion between a youngchild and its parent or between siblings.

EXAMPLE 5

Automatic proximity swapping devices. Although swapping mobile phonedevices may be accomplished for a particular account by simple selectionthrough an Internet interface or selecting a different mobile phonedevice from a phone application on a smart phone, some physical phoneusers may desire that when the user is in particular locations or inproximity to a higher priority mobile phone device, that the systemautomatically alters the account settings so that the user's activephone device is a different device. For example, a physical phone usermay want the phone service to automatically switch to a home phonesystem when the user arrives home or to an office desk-top service whenthe user arrives at the office. By establishing a hierarchy of priorityphone devices through the account interface, an account owner can choosewhich phone device takes control based on the physical phone user'slocation or based on the physical phone user's proximity to a higherpriority device. Communication between the different devices associatedwith an account may be through cellular phone location settings, orthrough proximity communication through wireless communication betweenthe devices themselves.

EXAMPLE 6

The system may be programmed by those of ordinary skill in the art to besmart enough to identify which mobile phone device is moving, andautomatically switch to the device which is moving if the account ownerselects this option. This option may be combined with a pre-proximityconfirmation and/or an ongoing movement confirmation to confirm themoving phone device is actually the intended device. This allows thephysical phone user to automatically switch to the exercise phone, forexample, without the account owner personally changing any settings whenthe physical device user picks up the exercise phone to go exercising.

EXAMPLE 7

Automatic time limits devices. In some situations, an account owner maydesire for a particular phone device to have active access to a phoneservice for limited times or durations. For example, a teenager with aphone curfew or restricted use during school. The system may beprogrammed to schedule times when the phone service is automaticallydisassociated from the particular phone device and associated withanother. The account owner may choose the particular device, phonenumber, times, dates, and/or ranges through the account owner'sinterface to the account. This is also useful for two people who aresharing a phone service but each wants to have his or her own mobilephone device.

EXAMPLE 8

Child and other asset monitor. The system may be programmed to haveaccount owner options that allow the account owner to choose particularcellular devices that are monitored for location. Whether it is only asingle phone device or multiple phone devices, the system may beprogrammed to temporarily transfer phone service associated with one ormore phone numbers associated with the account to a particular cellulardevice through the account long enough to monitor the location of theparticular cellular device and then dissociate the particular cellulardevice with the service. The location may be reported immediately to theaccount owner or another designee, or may be reported only if the deviceis not in an expected location or range. The account owner may also beable to establish as a limit a particular geographic range (i.e. ½ mileradius) around another cellular device, or address for which the systemcan track and report.

EXAMPLE 9

Video conferencing system. Many users desire the ability to more easilyvideo conference and the needed technology is available. It is just notconvenient for incorporation into most users' smart phones. Once theability for users to associate multiple phone devices with their phoneservice becomes readily available, use of video conferencing deviceswill also become more readily available. The system may be programmed toenable the account owner to associate a video conferencing system uniqueidentification number with the account so that a user can select thevideo conferencing system to associate with the phone service. There aremany devices now available which have larger screens and videoconferencing capability, but do not yet have convenient phone serviceaccess without an exclusive phone service associated with the videoconferencing.

EXAMPLE 10

Conference phone system. Many users desire the ability to have morerobust phone conferencing associated with their cellular phones, and theability to have better acoustics associated with the system than mostcellular phones provide. There are many reliable, robust and greatsounding conferencing systems available, but they are generally toolarge for incorporation into most users' smart phones. Once the abilityfor users to associate multiple phone devices with their phone servicebecomes readily available, the use of a better phone conferencing systemwith an account owner's phone system may also become more practical. Thesystem may be programmed to enable the account owner to associate anaudio conferencing system unique identification number with the accountso that a user can select the audio conferencing system to associatewith the phone service. In particular instances, multiple users'accounts may simultaneously be associated with a single conference phonesystem to enable additional phone lines to be used for a particularconference call.

EXAMPLE 11

Public system. Public or semi-private phone devices may be madeavailable with additional functionality beyond standard functionality ofsome phones to enable a phone user to select a public or semi-privatephone device and its functionality to which the phone user has access,and allow the phone user to temporarily transfer the phone user's phoneservice to that phone device. For security, the temporary transfer mayalso require proximity to the alternate phone device and specificpermission granted through pressing a security code followed bydissociation when proximity is no longer present (proximity sensingthrough wireless communication methods is known in the art in manydifferent forms). This may allow a user to access for free or even pay afee for use of a public or semi-private phone device with additionalfunctionality without the need to sign up for a separate phone serviceor to have it charged to the user's existing phone service, and use theuser's same phone number that all of their contacts are familiar seeing.An example of a semi-private phone device may include an employer'sphone device (like an office phone device, video phone device,conference phone device, or even personal cellular phone device) or aphone device within a private establishment like a restaurant or videoconferencing bar.

EXAMPLE 12

Pet Phone Unit. Many pet owners worry about their pets' location andwell-being. A simplified phone device may be manufactured with nobuttons, but simply a speaker and a microphone and a cellular chip toallow the pet's location to be tracked, as with previous examples, butalso to allow the pet owner to speak to the pet and hear a response. Thepet owner can be notified when the pet is outside of a predeterminedgeographic range, and an automatic message may be played to the pet orthe owner may connect directly to the device to instruct the pet to gohome. This type of unit may also be used for children.

EXAMPLE 13

Employer Unit. A company could purchase and issue standard companycellular devices to its employees that each include multiple SIM cardsor cellular chips in them and have an employee's business numberassigned to one SIM card or cellular chip. The employee could thenassign the employee's personal phone number to the other SIM card orcellular chip through the cellular phone device swap system and onlycarry one cellular phone device (rather than the two cellular phonedevices that many who have a business phone number and a personal phonenumber currently carry). When the cellular phone device needs to beassigned to a different employee, the employer can very simply reassignthe second SIM card or cellular chip to a different employee personalphone number through the online cellular phone device swap network withor without access to the specific device.

EXAMPLE 14

Additional mobile device examples. By non-limiting example, here aresome examples of mobile devices which may become more popular with theexistence of the presently disclosed technology and which may beincorporated into the presently disclosed system by associating a uniqueidentification number with the specific devices for association with theowner's account: watch phone, home phone system with base unit andmultiple devices in separate rooms connected to the base unit, videoconferencing system, desktop hand-held unit, text-only unit, pet tag forlocating pet, key chain cellular device for tracking, disguised cellulardevice to include in an unnoticed place (such as in the trunk or on adash board of a car, or built in to a car, or backpack clip or articleof clothing, or toy, or television remote, or the like, for tracking animportant item, for a walkie-talkie-like device where with one serviceplan two people can carry on a simple conversation with only onespeaking at a time in succession, as a necklace for use by elderly or achild for tracking the person or as an emergency device where theelderly or child can call for help or call to their caregiver easily bypulling phone service to the device only when needed, a televisionremote control or even a television configured as a mobile phone deviceto which phone service can be pushed, a personal computer or laptopconfigured as a mobile phone device to which phone service can bepushed, a waterbottle, sunglasses, article of clothing, hat, ring, shoe,“smart home” system, or any other article may be configured to include acellular or other mobile phone chip with a unique identifier to whichphone service can be pushed through an online interface on a temporary,account owner controlled basis.

Those of ordinary skill in the art of mobile phone technologiesunderstand how to remotely and indirectly charge mobile phone devices bymethods known in the art such as charge plates, remote power transfercharging, electromagnetic wave transmission charging, charging by simplemovement of the mobile phone device itself, and the like. The specificmethod of charging the devices themselves is not critical to the presentdisclosure.

Additionally, from the principles and concepts disclosed herein, thoseof ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that account ownerswill have many more uses for mobile phone devices beyond the previouslycommonly used ones and that each particular use of a mobile phone devicewill require a different set of components and functionality for themobile phone device. The level of mobility of each phone device that canbe associated with an account and selected by an account owner may varysignificantly and some may not be very mobile at all except thatwherever they are placed the phone system can recognize the specificdevice and transfer phone service from the carrier to it. The key to thebenefits described herein is the account owner's ability to view aplurality of physical phone devices associated with the account owner'saccount and to selectively transfer phone service to any of the phonedevices associated with the account by selecting it from the list andsubmitting a change of service to another device.

The following are non-limiting explanations of how an account owner'sinterface with an account may work. The non-limiting examples includehow security of phone numbers and cellular phone devices may be verifiedthrough the interface.

When an account owner initially creates an account, the account ownerenters account information and sets up an account specific to theaccount owner, likely including an email address, billing address,personal contact information and the like. The account owner identifiesone or more phone numbers that are each associated with phone servicethrough one or more mobile phone service carriers to the account forverification. Verification that the account owner controls that phonenumber and is authorized to control that phone number may beaccomplished in any of many ways known in the art such as, withoutlimitation, comparison with the phone number account records stored atthe phone service carrier and verification through the phone by averification system calling the phone number identified and requestingthe physical phone user to enter a security code. If the security codeis entered correctly, the phone is verified. The security code may beprovided to the account owner during registration of the number or maybe a number found on the physical phone itself, such as a physicaldevice unique identification code.

Once a phone number is verified, or simultaneously with verifying thephone number, the account owner may be prompted to enter unique deviceidentification numbers to verify mobile phone devices to associate withthe account. There may be two classifications of mobile phone devicesfor association with the owner's account: New device to verify, andpreviously verified device. For a previously verified device, theaccount owner may be prompted to enter a registration number from thedevice into the interface which is programmed to look up the specificdevice identification number from a database associated with theregistration number. For a new device to verify, the account owner maybe prompted to retrieve the specific device identification number fromthe phone device itself and enter it into the system which then assignsa registration number for the phone device. Verification of the devicemay occur immediately using a system phone number, or the first time theaccount owner elects to transfer phone service to the device with anaccount owner's phone number. When the device is associated with aparticular phone number and the account owner instructs the system totransfer service to that particular device, the system transfersinformation representing the device unique identification number and thephone number with which the device is to be associated with to a phonenumber registry or company which interfaces with the phone numberregistry, such as a phone service carrier, to implement the change. Oncethe change is made, the system verifies that the device is in thecontrol of the account owner, in any of the known ways for verifyingincluding those discussed previously herein. Thereafter, if an accountowner desires to temporarily transfer phone service to the phone device,the owner can do that using any of the methods described throughout thisdisclosure.

Because an account owner can transfer phone service away from any deviceassociated with the owner's account, the presently disclosed technologymay also help with reducing phone theft. Particular embodiments of thepresent system restrict a physical phone device from being verified withmore than one owner account at a time. If a phone is stolen, but haspreviously been verified with a particular owner account, the accountowner may discontinue phone service for that physical phone deviceimmediately and may even report the phone stolen, and the thief may beprevented from registering the physical phone device with anotheraccount. Nevertheless, the account owner can selectively provide phoneservice to the phone device to track its location for the authorities totrack down the thief.

Through the account owner's interface, the account owner can choose foreach phone device associated with the account owner's account whichphone number associated with the account owner's account is associatedwith the phone device. In some embodiments, this includes limitations inthe account so that only a single device associated with each phonenumber. In other embodiments, this permits an account owner to assignprimary and secondary phone numbers to each of many devices andpreferences for temporarily swapping phone service between the devices.

As used herein, the terms “component,” “system” and the like areintended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, acombination of hardware and software, software, or software inexecution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being,a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an instance,an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. Byway of illustration, both an application running on a computer and thecomputer can be a component. One or more components may reside within aprocess and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers.

The word “exemplary,” “example” or various forms thereof are used hereinto mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect ordesign described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.Furthermore, examples are provided solely for purposes of clarity andunderstanding and are not meant to limit or restrict the claimed subjectmatter or relevant portions of this disclosure in any manner. It is tobe appreciated that a myriad of additional or alternate examples ofvarying scope could have been presented, but have been omitted forpurposes of brevity.

Furthermore, all or portions of the subject innovation may beimplemented as a method, apparatus or article of manufacture usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software,firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer toimplement the disclosed innovation. The term “article of manufacture” asused herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible fromany computer-readable device or media. For example, computer readablemedia can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g.,hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), optical disks (e.g.,compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ), smart cards,and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ).Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave can beemployed to carry computer-readable electronic data such as those usedin transmitting and receiving electronic mail or in accessing a networksuch as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Of course, thoseskilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to thisconfiguration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimedsubject matter.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 2 and 3 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattermay be implemented. While the subject matter has been described above inthe general context of computer-executable instructions of a programthat runs on one or more computers, those skilled in the art willrecognize that the subject innovation also may be implemented incombination with other program modules. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. thatperform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract datatypes. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that thesystems/methods may be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor, multiprocessor or multi-coreprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers,as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g.,personal digital assistant (PDA), phone, watch . . . ),microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrial electronics,and the like. The illustrated aspects may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network.However, some, if not all aspects of the claimed subject matter can bepracticed on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 3, an exemplary environment 10 for implementingvarious aspects disclosed herein includes a computer 12 (e.g., desktop,laptop, server, hand held processing device, cellular phone device,programmable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like). Thecomputer 12 includes a processing unit 14, a system memory 16, and asystem bus 18. The system bus 18 couples system components including,but not limited to, the system memory 16 to the processing unit 14. Theprocessing unit 14 can be any of various available microprocessors. Itis to be appreciated that dual microprocessors, multi-core and othermultiprocessor architectures can be employed as the processing unit 14.

The system memory 16 includes volatile and nonvolatile memory. The basicinput/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transferinformation between elements within the computer 12, such as duringstart-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, andnot limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory (ROM) insome cases. Volatile memory includes random access memory (RAM), whichcan act as external cache memory to facilitate processing.

Computer 12 may also include removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. FIG. 3 illustrates, forexample, mass storage 24. Mass storage 24 includes, but is not limitedto, devices like a magnetic or optical disk drive, floppy disk drive,flash memory, Internet cloud memory, or memory stick. In addition, massstorage 24 can include storage media separately or in combination withother storage media.

FIG. 3 provides software application(s) 28 that act as an intermediarybetween users and/or other computers and the basic computer resourcesdescribed in suitable operating environment 10. Such softwareapplication(s) 28 include one or both of system and applicationsoftware. System software can include an operating system, which can bestored on mass storage 24, that acts to control and allocate resourcesof the computer system 12. Application software takes advantage of themanagement of resources by system software through program modules anddata stored on either or both of system memory 16 and mass storage 24.Database data may be stored in system memory 16, mass storage 24, orsome other storage associated with the computer 12.

The computer 12 also includes one or more interface components 26 thatare communicatively coupled to the bus 18 and facilitate interactionwith the computer 12. By way of example, the interface component 26 canbe a port (e.g., serial, parallel, PCMCIA, USB, FireWire, and the like)or an interface card (e.g., sound, video, network, and the like) or thelike. The interface component 26 can receive input and provide output(wired or wirelessly). For instance, input can be received from devicesincluding but not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse,trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad,satellite dish, scanner, camera, other computer and the like. Output canalso be supplied by the computer 12 to output device(s) via interfacecomponent 26. Output devices can include displays (e.g., CRT, LCD,plasma, projection, and the like), speakers, printers and othercomputers, among other things.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment 30with which the subject innovation can interact. The system 30 includesone or more client(s) 32, for example associated with an account owner'saccount or a phone service carrier, or a phone number registry. Theclient(s) 32 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes,computing devices). The system 30 also includes one or more server(s)34. Thus, system 30 can correspond to a two-tier client server model ora multi-tier model (e.g., client, middle tier server, data server),amongst other models. The server(s) 34 can also be hardware and/orsoftware (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 34can house threads to perform transformations by employing the aspects ofthe subject innovation, for example. One possible communication betweena client 32 and a server 34 may be in the form of a data packettransmitted between two or more computer processes while transmittingdata from an account interface displaying on an account owner'scomputing device and an interface processor, or between an interfaceprocessor and an account owner's phone service carrier or a phone numberregistry, or between a phone service carrier and a phone numberregistry. A communication framework 38 exists between the one or moreclient(s) 32 and the one or more server(s) to facilitate meaningful datatransfer and communication.

Where the above examples, embodiments and implementations referencecellular phones, cellular phone networks and other cellular phoneexamples, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat other phone types, networks, any other telephony devices andexamples could be intermixed or substituted with those provided. Forexample, voice over IP (VoIP), terrestrial phone lines and other phonesystems known and used in the United States and other countriesthroughout the world with their corresponding phone number registriesmay be incorporated into the base cellular phone network system orimplemented separately based on the concepts, principles and methodsdisclosed herein for enabling end telephone user controlled temporaryphone service device swapping and related methods. In places where thedescription above refers to particular implementations of phone systemsand techniques for securely permitting an end user to control whichtemporary phone is associated with the end user's phone service, itshould be readily apparent that a number of modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit thereof and that these implementationsmay be applied to other to phone system technologies as well. Forexample, implementation of the disclosure is not limited just totraditional phone or mobile phone technologies and may be applied toother mobile communication devices. In particular implementations, thesystem may not be embodied as a phone or mobile phone system at all, butmay more generically apply simply to a communications system whereinparticular communications devices are assigned communication numbers,similar to a phone number registry but not necessarily throughconventional phone technology, each communication device comprising aunique identification number like with a mobile phone device. Routing ofcommunication connections between various communications devices may bedone similar to the examples provided above relating to a phone servicenetwork. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter is intended toembrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to theextent that the terms “includes,” “contains,” “has,” “having” orvariations in form thereof are used in either the detailed descriptionor the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a mannersimilar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A user controlled temporary phone servicedevice swapping system comprising: a plurality of phone user controlaccounts on a user controlled phone service device swapping systemaccessible through an Internet connection to a phone user interfaceaccessible through each of a plurality of processors each under controlof a different phone user, each different phone user associated with adifferent phone user control account; at least two telephone numbersregistered with each of the plurality of phone user control accounts,each phone user control account associated with a different first andsecond telephone number than each other phone user control account; andmore than two phone devices registered with each of the plurality ofphone user control accounts, each of the more than two phone devicescomprising a phone component that provisions phone communication througha phone telecommunication network and a unique identifier different fromunique identifiers associated with each of the more than two phonedevices registered with each other phone user control account of theplurality of phone user control accounts; wherein the phone userinterface is configured to receive input from a phone user associatedwith a first phone user control account to indicate which two of themore than two phone devices associated with the phone user controlaccount is to be separately associated with the respective first orsecond telephone numbers associated with the phone user control accountand to transmit data indicating the association to a phone numberregistry, wherein at least one of the more than two phone devicesremains unassociated with both of the respective first and secondtelephone numbers while the respective first and second telephonenumbers are associated with the two phone devices.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the more than two phone devicesregistered with at least one of the plurality of phone user controlaccounts is not associated with any telephone number.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein each of the more than two phone devices comprises oneof a cellular telephone, a voice over IP mobile phone device, a SIMchip, a tracking device, a watch phone, a personal computing device, avideo phone device, a smart phone and a cellular chip.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the phone user interface is configured to receive theinput and transmit the data even when the indicated phone device islocated remote from the phone user.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the more than two phone devices comprises a tracking deviceand the interface is configured to illustrate a location on a mapdisplayed on a computer display an approximate location of the trackingdevice.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the interface is furtherconfigured to automatically locate and record a location of the trackingdevice on a scheduled basis.
 7. A user controlled temporarycommunication service device swapping system comprising: a plurality ofcommunications device user control accounts on a user controlledcommunication service device swapping system accessible through anInternet connection to an online communications user interface; at leasttwo different communications device numbers registered with each of theplurality of communications user control accounts; and more than twocommunications devices registered with each of the plurality ofcommunications user control accounts, each of the more than twocommunications devices comprising a communications component thatprovisions communication through a communications network and a uniqueidentifier different from unique identifiers associated with each of themore than two communications devices registered with each of the othercommunications user control accounts; wherein the user controlledcommunications service device swapping system is configured to receiveinput from a first communications user associated with a firstcommunications user control account of the plurality of communicationsuser control accounts to indicate that a first communications device ofthe more than two communications devices is to be associated with afirst communications device number of the at least two differentcommunications device numbers and a second communications device of themore than two different communications devices is to be associated witha second communications device number of the at least two differentcommunication device numbers and to transmit data indicating theassociations to a communication number registry, wherein a thirdcommunications device of the more than two communications devices isleft unassociated with any of the at least two communications devicenumbers.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein each of the more than twocommunications devices comprises one of a cellular telephone, a voiceover IP mobile phone device, a SIM chip, a tracking device, a watchphone, a personal computing device, a video phone device, a smart phoneand a cellular chip.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the usercontrolled communications service device swapping system is configuredto receive the input and transmit the data even when the indicatedcommunications device is located remote from the communications deviceuser.
 10. A user controlled temporary communication service deviceswapping system comprising: a plurality of communications device usercontrol accounts on a user controlled communication service deviceswapping system accessible through an Internet connection to an onlinecommunications user interface; two communication device numbersregistered with each of the plurality of communications user controlaccounts; and more than two communication devices registered with eachof the plurality of communications user control accounts, each of themore than two communication devices comprising a communicationscomponent that provisions communication through a communications networkand a unique identifier different from unique identifiers associatedwith each other device of the more than two communication devicesregistered with each other communications user control account; whereinthe user controlled communications service device swapping system isconfigured to receive input from a first communications user associatedwith a first communications user control account of the plurality ofcommunications user control accounts to indicate that only a first and asecond communication device of the more than two communication devicesis to be activated for current communication with the communicationsnetwork, and to transmit data indicating the activations to acommunication number registry, wherein at least a third communicationdevice remains unactivated for current communication with thecommunications network.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein at least oneof the more than two communication devices comprises a personalcomputing device.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein at least a firstof the more than two communication devices comprises a cellulartelephone and at least a second of the more than two communicationdevices is not a cellular telephone.
 13. The system of claim 10, whereinthe communications user interface is configured to receive the input andtransmit the data even when the indicated cellular telephone is locatedremote from the phone user.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein at leasta first of the more than two communications devices comprises a trackingdevice and the communications user interface is configured to illustratea location on a map displayed on a computer display an approximatelocation of the tracking device.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thecommunications user interface is configured to automatically locate andrecord a location of the tracking device on a scheduled basis.
 16. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein a plurality of the more than twocommunication devices each comprises a tracking device and thecommunications user interface is configured to illustrate a location ona map on a computer display an approximate location of each of the morethan two communications devices.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein thecommunications user interface is configured to automatically locate andrecord a location of each of the tracking devices on a scheduled basisand display their last recorded locations on the map.